The truth is better than lies
by RachealRM
Summary: a one shot drabble, that i came up with late at night...linxmai, might turn into a story :D R
1. Chapter 1

Mai was beyond bored, working at SPR was terrible. Seriously, naru had rejected the last two cases and she had already run out of paperwork. She was even keeping up with tea, that is how sad it was. Tapping her finger on the desk, impatiently, she had already decided that this was ridiculous. She needed to do something! Maybe she could bug one of her co-workers. Naru would make some kind of rude comment, and make her furious, she didn't exactly feel like being upset right now.

There was always lin, but he would just ignore her right? She had never really tried to get to know him, though. He was also the only one who didn't call her by her first name, and she wasn't going to lie that bugged her. This was her imaginary family, whether anyone else thought that way or not, and families called each other by their given names.

Resolve swelled in her, she was going to get on good terms with lin, and he had no choice! This was her daydream, and she wouldn't let some cold hearted Chinese man ruin them. Besides he had saved her multiple times, so it is time to fix this! Now how to go about it, the Chinese man was sharp, and surely he would pick up that she was bored. No she had to do something so off the wall, that he couldn't just shut the door in her face, like he always does when she gave him tea.

She would have to be sneaky, yes indeed, she would have to be like...like...yasuhara! No that was a discouraging thought. Sitting down once, she pulled out a piece of paper, and started to brain storm.

The next day, she sat fidgeting at her desk, why was time so slow? She ended up spending most of her night trying to figure out what to do, and she had finally settled on one, all she needed to do now was to wait till closing. She had come to the conclusion that she would do it before she left, so that way she could escape if she needed too.

"Fifteen minutes left..." she quietly whispered to herself, tapping her finger impatiently she glared at the clock. 'Move faster' she thought desperately. Getting up, she went to make the tea, but proceeded to do it slower than normal. Once it was completed she took the first cup to her boss, decideding to get him out of the way, first. Leaving her with plenty of time to tackle her task.

After delivering naru's tea, with out a thank you received, she went back to the kitchen, to straighten her skirt, and grab an item from the cupboards. It was a plate of brownies, corny right? Well it was the only thing she could think of, and the only supplies she had, at the moment. Grabbing his cup, she boldly walked towards his office, only to have a onslaught of nerves attack her the closer she got.

'Suck up, Mai it's now or never!' taking a deep breath, she quietly knocked on the door, and waited. It seemed like an eternity before he opened the door.

With a cold expression on his face he answered "Yes, Tanyami-san, is there something you need?"

'There was that Tanyami-san again, would it kill him to say my name?' she thought bitterly, whilst she was wearing a smile. "Before I leave I thought I would bring you some tea." she said as the cup was passed, "Also I wanted to thank you for all the times you have been there to help me, thank you lin-san" she held out the plate with a low bow. She dared not to look at him, for she was afraid of his disapproving reaction.

She felt her hands become light as the package was removed from her hands, looking up in surprise she found him staring at her with an unreadable expression. "Thank you Taniyama-san, if there is nothing else, then I will get back to work." he stated as he was closing the door.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, she really didn't know why, it just slipped out. He turned back to look at her with an expecting expression on his face.

"This is just an idea, but I thought well, how do I say this," she was wringing her hands with how nervous she was, "Would it be terrible if we say got to know each other better? I know you don't like Japanese people, but I think..." she faded off as she lost where she was going.

He just raised an eyebrow at her, "I do not have time to ideally chit chat, there is work to be done." he stated matter-of-factly.

"How about I ask you just one question, that is it? Just one, that way over time we could get to know each other, I guess?" she meekly added.

"I will consider it." and with that he shut the door in her face, leaving her stunned. He would consider it? She hadn't been hoping for that much, even. Filled with new excitement she left, to go plot out some good questions.

Two days had passed, and she hadn't received even a comment from lin, on anything. In fact, he was ignoring her as much as naru did, which made her feel lonely. "Geez, I didn't think that a simple question would cause this much trouble.." she grumbled under breath. Life had been getting harder for her, it wasn't anything big really. Or that is what she told herself. Honestly she was just getting this major sense of loneliness, lately, it just hung there over her head, like some kind of ominess rain cloud.

Yet she couldn't figure out why, nothing had triggered it, well not that she knew of. True she hadn't seen her pseudo family for a month now, but that had happened before right? Sighing she got up, and decided to take the tea to the two mimes she worked for, before calling it a day.

She walked slower, her peppiness had ebbed away over the last couple weeks, as the feelings crept into her heart. Knocking on the Chinese man's door, she waited silently, it was unnerving. The tall man stood before her, as he opened the wall that was between them, looking down at the sullen girl, he wondered what had gotten into her.

"One question, and only once a day, starting tomorrow, understood." he stated as she handed him the cup. Once she heard that her eyes light up like bulbs, bowing she excitedly said a "Thank you Lin-san" before skipping off.

'Well that was unexpected.' he thought as he returned to his desk. He seriously considered asaying no, but he had started noticing her fake smiles, which made him reconsider. He had never seen her so, down? If that was even the right word. In fact he didn't think he would actually agree to it, but after seeing her demeanor today, he made a quick alteration to his plan. Hoping he wasn't going to regret it, he returned to his paperwork.

The next day evening, to her word, she was there at the end of the day, knocking on his door. She spent the entire day trying to decide what to ask. She even asked her school friends what they thought, which turned out to be a mistake. They incessantly bugged her for the rest of the day, asking if she had a crush. She of course said no, but that still didn't shut them up. After finally escaping them she went to work like normal, which now lead her to this moment.

He once again opened his door, this time with an exasperated sigh, for he knew what was coming. Taking her tea, he looked at her expectantly. "Well..." he said in a bored tone.

"Oh, what is your favorite dessert?" mai said shocked as it was not the right question, resigning herself that, it would have to do, and she waited quietly for the answer.

He sat thinking, he was not expecting that one, he assumed it would be like color or something, "I don't like sweets." her face fell when he finished. That means he didn't like her brownies? He had turned around and disappeared back into his room, leaving mai, who was still upset about the new discovery. He returned a minute later with the plate from a few days before.

"Thank you for the brownies Taniyami-san." he said with a bow after she had retrieved the item, and then closed the door.

She was left to wonder, about what happened to her chocolate gift, did he throw them away? He did say thank you though, arghh this is confusing. Stalking off she decided tomorrow better be a good question.

The next day was pretty much the same except for naru decided to take a case of a poor helpless client, saying they would be there the following day. She was excited, now her 'family' could be together again, just like old times right? Wrong, when everyone arrived that afternoon, to be briefed before the following morning, there was a sick kind of tension in the air, it was suffocating.

After going through the tea ritual once again, and delivering it to all of the guests, she was forced to take a spot on naru's left, instead of her normal spot on the right, which was now occupied by lin. 'Strange...' she thought to herself, 'he never has taken my seat before...'

The obnoxious boss then proceeded to run down the list of abnormal occurrences, that had been plaguing the family, which she totally ignored. No she was busy trying to think of a good founded question to ask the stoic man who was seemingly staring at her.

'I could ask about favorite holiday?' she thought absentmindedly, 'Or maybe what he liked to do as a kid? No to personal I think..' she continued down her list that had been previously memorized, during the slowest part of the day.

"Taniyama-sama, did you hear anything that was just said?" came the clear deep monotone drawl of the man in question.

"Huh?" she asked, now fully aware that everyone was staring at her, "Eto...Suuurrrreee?" she replied as she questioned herself.

"I don't pay you to zone out when I am talking, everyone is excused, lin re explain everything to mai," he stated as he glared ice daggers at the young girl, standing up he walked towards his office, only to stop and look back once, "Oh and I am deducting it from your pay." and the door slammed after him.

She said goodbye to everyone, sadly, before resigning herself to the inevitable. After him motioning, she followed the extremely tall man into the forbidden office. She remembers being in here once, but was shooed out before she could blink.

Taking a look around, she realized she could gather alot of information from his work space. It was well organized, meaning he was naturally, or he went out of his way to make it so, his chair was facing away from the door, meaning he was confident in his abilities, and it seemed more mature than naru's office.

"Take a seat." he stated while pulling his chair to sit directly in front of the small yet cozy looking couch, that was against the wall, she wandered how many nights he spent sleeping here? Would naru really keep him that late? The answer was probably yes to both questions.

"Taniyama-sama your spacing again." same a slightly irate voice.

"Sorry, I was just thinking about how I have never really got to see the inside before.." she trailed off when she saw a random object in the corner, she even blinked thrice to make sure she wasn't making it up.

"Taniyama-sama, I suggest you ask your question now before you get distracted again." he pointedly said, "That way we might actually get something done."

"Ah.." she couldn't tear her eyes off of it, was it real? "What...Why?' she was caught in a trance like stare, whilst turning a beat red, "Why do you have a frog lamp in the corner?" she practically screamed.

His expression was priceless to say the least, it was a mixture of confusion, realization, embarrassment, and flustered. "Wha...what made you ask that?" he said trying to compose himself.

"It is right there!" she pointed at the offender.

"I don't know what your talking about.." he straightened his tie, coughing as he did.

She started jumping frantically, "But it is right there!"

"Taniyama-sama I will answer anything but that question." he was looking anywhere but her direction.

"Fine I will ignore it for now, only if you address me by Mai!" she defiantly stated.

A mischievous smile emerged on his face, "It is a deal if you take that...thing home with you." he had a small bit of venom in his voice.

Later in the evening she sat, admiring the ridiculous frog lamp that was now placed in her room. She drove a hard bargain, but in the end she came out with the better deal, she agreed to take the monstrosity home, if...he let her in to his office to ask the question daily.

Also he had to take her to lunch every week, if they didn't have a case, along with he would have to ask her a question pertaining to herself, and he would have to be friendly. The argument had lasted nearly an hour, and he ended up taking her home, well dropping her and that indescribable thing off.

Smiling she rolled, and fell asleep wandering what tales this lamp could tell her, one day she would have to get it out of him...

"Goodnight Lin.." she mumbled to the object as she fell fast asleep wandering what tomorrows' question will be.


	2. Chapter 2

The case had been fairly short, in fact it wasn't even worth mentioning, well at least the mai, who was currently sitting at her desk at turned out to be a fluke, some dude was trying to scare off the family, so he could buy the house for cheap, she felt like it was right out of a scooby doo episode.

Leaning back in her chair, she wondered who would be which characters? Naru would definitely be freddy, seeing he liked to be in charge of everything, ayako would be daphene, shaggy was so bou-san it wasn't even funny, she would be stuck as velma, and well...

"Mai, tea!" came the call, 'right on time' she thought as she knocked, and let herself into the cold room.

He looked up to inspect her, as she handed him the steaming liquid, "Lin has informed me of your outing today." he said with much effort. "You may leave now but be back in exactly one hour and fifteen minutes." with that she was shooed out as fast as she came in.

"Well that was odd." she said to no one, as she went to knock softly on lin's door, today was going to be there first lunch 'outing', and she was a little nervous on how it would go.

Shuffling could be heard, followed by the bland looking barrier opening. He gave her an accessing glance, before turning around and walking back into his cave. Grabbing his coat, and keys, he promptly returned, and they left silently.

'Come to think of it I haven't really actually seen his vehicle, have I?' the thought crossed her mind as she followed a few steps behind him. They continued until they reached the corner, in which he took a left, which lead into a private garage looking area. He started walking towards a sleek dark blue, dodge viper.

She stopped in shock of seeing a more expensive car, she definitely did not expect lin to drive such, a 'hot' car? If hot was even the word for it.

"I never knew this was behind the office?" she stated to no one, as she tried to not gawk, which was answered by a you-never-asked-or-noticed look. "Ok ok sorry for not being the brightest bulb on the planet."

"I never insinuated anything like that." came the way too polite man.

"You didn't have too." came a non chalant reply.

Sighing inwardly to himself, he wondered why he accepted this proposal again? Oh yes that horrible blackmail item that was so conveniently tucked into his office corner. He unconsciously opened the passenger door, ignoring another shocked expression from his co-worker, after a few minutes of him staring at her, she finally shook off her expression, and climbed into the car.

Sometimes he wondered where her brain went sometimes, "Mai-san, where would you like to dine this afternoon?'

She stifled a laugh, at his choice of words, "I don't care where would you like to eat at koujo-san?"

His name rolled off of her tongue in a sickly sweet way, which alarmed him, he did not like people using his first name, especially the Japanese kind. "I would prefer it if you address me by my surname."

"But I thought that we were on a..." she started shocked by the amount of annoyance his voice held.

"One shouldn't assume things, The deal was for me to call you by your given name, nothing more." he was annoyed, really he was, she had interrupted him in the middle of an important essay, that he was required to type up on a weekly basis, and it was due to Luella at an exact time or she called.

"Gomen nesai!" bowing a little, she really wished she knew why the Chinese man seemed so agitated, was it because of her? Probably she did practically blackmail him into this. "Lin-san.." she dejectedly finished.

They continued to drive in silence until it started a steady downpour, almost if the heavens opened and realized the reservoir. A sudden vibrating in his pocket, broke his moment of brooding, flipping open his cell, he listened and then hung up.

"Change of plans, we have a case," he swiftly turned the car around, and headed towards the young woman's apartment. "You will gather your things, and then we will meet them there."

"Oh it must be close then?" she thought optimistically, "What about the equipment?"

"Naru is having the rest of the team load it up, as we speak," they pulled up in front of the small, building, "Make it quick!"

She gave him a side long look, of disappointment, before climbing out of the car, and into the torrential rain. After ten minutes she came tripping back into the passengers seat, soaked to the bone.

"Mai-san I figured you would've been smart enough to remember an umbrella or coat, when you where in your apartment." Zooming out of the parking lot, they proceeded onto the highway, at a relatively fast pace.

"Don't we need to get your stuff?" the female asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

"No, I always carry an emergency bag, in my car. "the sharped eyed man responded.

"Oh well that is very smart of you, Lin-san." He noted that her innocent eyes were cast down, every time she used his name. "So how far away is it?"

"About five hours..." he couldn't help looking at her wet form with a bit of pity. For one she was ruining his leather seat, which could be replaced, but still it wasn't exactly the cheapest thing. Secondly she was already shivering, but was trying to act normal.

Sighing inwardly to himself again, he reached out and casually flicked on the heater, this was going to be a long day. The boss had already kept him up most of the night, researching various places around Japan, as well as doing back round checks on some other possible cases.

He got maybe a whopping forty-five minutes of sleep, on the couch, that was conveniently in his office, before his insomniac ward came in and woke him up, over some trivial typing error. The Chinese man had considered asking the young assistant to slip a sedative into the uptight narsisst tea, but he didn't want the poor girl fired over it.

Hearing a thud, he looked over to find his passenger fast asleep, with her head against the window. Rolling his eyes, he pulled over to the side of the road. 'She picked an awfully uncomfortable position didn't she?' he thought to himself slightly amused by the situation.

Proceeding into the rain, which had lightened incredibly, he then opened his trunk, and grabbed his favorite coat.

Almost pouting at the thought of it getting wet, he then climbed back into the car, and repositioned her, before covering her shivering form with it.

She sighed into the warmth and snuggled closer to the black fabric, 'I am to polite for my own good..' he mused, 'But Naru would have left her like that, and she would end up sick, with him mad about it.'

It still surprised him, how insensitive his employer could really be, especially to possibly the nicest person on the team. 'He really does take advantage of her.'

'And she never says a word does she?' he continued to ponder about the woman next to him, as he got back on the road.

'Well except for a couple times..' he thought about when he told her his opinions about Japanese people, 'She really got upset over it.'

A few hours later, his phone went off again, trying to stay calm, he picked up the device, and listened to the speaker. "Lin, where are you guys?"

"We had to take an alternate route, why?" he spoke softer than normal, as he shot a cautious glance towards the girl who was now dreaming.

"Why are you whispering?" came an annoyed voice, "We reached just reached the location, explain the reason for an alternate route!" he demanded.

"The highway got shut down, so we are on the back roads," he cringed as he hit another pot hole, his poor car, "It sets us back a few hours, we will arrive when we can, but" he paused, "The storm is only getting worse, I am thinking we might have to stop for the night, somewhere..."

He swore he heard a growl on the other end, "Fine but if you do, I will not re-emberse you."

"Fine Oliver," he switched to English, which he knew would aggravate the young lad more, "Then I will inform your parents, and I am sure they will re-emberse me, especially they will find out how you have been treating your employees lately, they might just have to come for a visit.." he smirked, oh how he enjoyed being able to pull that card.

"Fine!" hearing the dial tone, he surmised that he won, closing the cellular device, he felt a little better.

"Who might have to come for a visit? Lin-san?" came a mumbled question from the half asleep girl.

"Mai-san, can you understand me?" he continued in the other language, this was interesting, he wasn't aware that she knew English.

"But of course I can understand you, what a strange question..." she answered, "Are you feeling ok?" this time she leaned over, and felt his forehead, her skin was like ice.

"Are you asleep?" he asked warily, something was not right here.

"I don't remember..." she slurred, her eyes were fluttering so fast, 'Was she REM sleeping?' "Your so warm..." leaning up against him, he was now aware of just how wet she still was.

'She should have been dry by now' trying to focus on driving, he could see that she was on the paler side. Scanning the near by area, he located a particular seedy looking hotel. Frowning he pulled into the parking lot, "Mai-san!" he shook her frail form, "Mai-san wake up!"

"Are we there?" she asked with a yawn.

"No we are going to stop for the night, stay here, I will get us a room." he was about to shut the door, but stopped "Keep the doors locked." slamming the door shut, he then went towards the front office area.

Instinct told him to keep on alert, so he left a few of his shiki with the car, naru would have to go solo for a while. "Excuse me," he tried to sound polite as possible, "I would like a room, please."

"Would you like two, for you and your pretty little lady that you conveniently left in the car.." he taunted.

Lin narrowed his eyes, 'definitely not good' "No she is my wife, hence the one room request," he gave a menacing glare towards the man. "Do you have it or not?"

"We do, don't get your knickers in a twist..."

Back in the car mai was stretching a little, 'I can't wait to take a shower,' she thought pleasantly, before she felt a chill run down her spine. Something was not right, no someone was watching her, 'I hope Lin-san get's back, soon...' she thought, pulling a piece of warm cloth over her.

Looking down, she furrowed her eyebrows, "This isn't mine..." she quietly stated, but man did it smell good.

The door opened quickly and lin got in, he looked on edge, "Mai-san I want you to listen to me, we are being monitored, for what reason, I do not know, but.." he paused and slid a look at her, the mere thought that she was his 'wife' was revolting at first, but now he wasn't sure.

"We are going to pretend that we are married understood, meaning we might have to be intimate, at some point in the night, especially at dinner." he silently cursed in his head, why did his day get worse.

"What are you saying?" a confused expression appeared on her face.

"Do you happen to have any jewelry on you? Like a suitable ring?" he continued, this was ridiculous.

"No no I don't carry rings on me?" she sounded so lost.

"Fine," leaning over he opened the glove compartment, and pulled out a box, "Wear this.." he opened it quickly, and slipped on ring, before handing it to her.

"Wait, what?" she was just starting to process the information.

Fighting his annoyance, he slipped the extravagant piece on her finger, "As I said, we are now married, Mrs. Lin Mai, so you must address yourself as that, and call me by my given name."

He slipped out of the car, and quickly pulled their luggage out of the trunk, before leaning back in. "Hurry up they are getting suspicious, put my coat on, as well, we don't want everyone seeing your...underwear.." he smirked at the view.

She looked like she had been slapped, and quickly slid into the oversized garment. 'That seemed to get her attention,' he thought bemused, 'this might not be that bad..'

"Come on, Honey.." he tested the word, it slipped off of his tongue, leaving a foreign taste in his mouth.

"Oh right, sorry Lin...I mean Koujo-kun?" she posed as more of a question than anything. She got out, and walked around to his side, 'imagine what the others would say?'

Taking his arm, they walked to 'their' room, "27?" she asked to no one in particular, only to be interrupted.

"Why hello there!" came a wheezy voice, she jumped a little, and tightened her grip on the poor man.

"Oh hello!" her voice was shaky, she could see why lin was on edge, something was definitely not right here.

"So this is the pretty little thing you were trying to hide from us," he eyed her like a piece of meat, "I can see why, people might just want to do something unmentionable to her."

Her tall 'husband' glared daggers at the man, "Not like I am saying I would, but some people...well I just came to let you know that dinner will be within the hour."

"Thank you..." his words were as cold as the weather, maybe naru had been effecting him more than he thought. "Now if you will excuse us..."

"Oh sure, see you then!" with that he turned and left.

He cautiously opened the door, before escorting the obviously frightened young girl in, and closing the door. "Why don't you sit on the bed for a moment honey, and relax..." he said as sweetly as he could muster.

"Sounds good, sweetie, your always so thoughtful..." she flashed a sugar coated smile to him, once she had seen the look in his eye. He then proceeded, to check the room for camera's and bugging devices, but made it look like he was just doing mundane things.

After a few minutes, with the help of his shiki, he had found one camera, which he had his demons, confidently take 'care' of.

"I think I got everything.." he finally spoke after a few minutes, "But let's assume that they will fix it during dinner time,"

"Couldn't you take care of it again?" she asked nervously.

"It would be suspicious if it short circuited twice?" he sighed exasperatedly

"Oh..." she fingered the ring that sat so innocently on her hand. "Why do you keep rings in your car?" she asked curiously.

"For emergencies like this..." he answered as he was taking his shoes off. "I suggest you take a shower first, whilst there is still time."

She gave him a worried look, but said nothing as she gathered her supplies and left for the bathroom. Once he heard the water start, he pulled out his cell, and dialed his boss's number.

"Lin this better be important." he curtly stated.

"I was just informing you that we are stopping for the night, and for you not to call after this." he inwardly was cringing, he really didn't want anyone knowing.

"May I inquire to as why?" the voice suggested that he already received the hint.

"We have run into a bit of a predicament..." the Chinese man was beyond agitated, he had a feeling that he wasn't going to get away with so little of an answer.

"Oh...that explains the lack of the shiki.." came the amused boy, "Might I ask which master plan you went with?"

Cringing again he replied quietly, "five..."

"You chose five? I would like to ask why, but I expect it in the full report, when you finally arrive" there was mockery in his tone, "I expect you to call me when you leave, have fun with your wife..." and with that he hung up.

Lin fell back against the covers with a sigh, his head was pounding with an ever growing migraine, and he thought the day really couldn't sink much lower.

The bathroom door clicked open, "Sweetheart...?" she needed sometime to get used to this, "The shower is open now, if you want it..." She saw him nod, and gather his things, before slipping past her, and shutting the door.

'Well this is pleasant..." she thought pessimistically to herself, "Mom, dad how did things end up like this?" she asked no one, as she started applying her make up.

Ten minutes later, Lin emerged, dressed and ready, only to stare at her. "Are you really sure you want to be going out in something so revealing?" his eyed roamed her body unguarded this time. She was dawning a mini skirt, and a white shirt. "Do you not remember what happened outside of the room?"

A blush appeared on her face as she realized what he was hinting too, embarressly she grabbed different clothes and ran back into the bathroom. He allowed himself to crack a smile, 'She really needs someone to watch out for her..'

She re-emerged in a pair of nice jeans, and a hoodie, "Ano..Thank you Lin-san!"

"Koujo.." he interjected, "Remember Mai-chan?"

"Koujo-kun.." she smiled at him. "Well I for one am starved, should we go face the music?"

Shaking his head, he handed her his coat of choice, and left the room, leaving a few of his 'friends' behind.

Once they entered the designated dining area, everyone stopped talking immediately. There was a total of six other people there, one being the one they ran into earlier, two other couples, and the clerk.

"Welcome!" the clerk started, "Everyone I would like to introduce you to our newest guests, Mr. And Mrs. Lin!"

A round of welcomes flooded the room, as they took their seats towards the end of the table. Dinner started, and so did the questions. "So Mrs...?"

"Call me mai please..." the naive girl said without thinking.

"Mai-san, could you tell us about how you two met and how long you have been together?" the one speaking was an older woman.

"Well it is not that very interesting..." she looked down, desperately trying to come up with something.

"Oh I am sure it is! Please, go on!" she was backed up by the rest of the table who insisted as well.

"Well, we met, because of my clustyness. It started a year an a half ago, his company was coming to my school to help with something, and I accidentally caused him to get a sprained ankle." she blushed as she remembered the real story.

He gave her a your-really-going-with-that-story look, and she tried to ignore it as she continued, "Well long story short, I got hired by his company, we started working together, and fell in love!" she giggled as she took his hand, and gave him a cheesy look.

"So when did you get married?" the woman continued to prod.

"About two months ago.." this time lin spoke up, he wasn't planning on it, so it was somewhat of a shock to him as well as his 'wife'.

"Well congratulations, to both of you! If you don't mind me asking where are you headed?" another person at the table asked.

"We are headed to Hiroshima, to meet up with family.." He replied curtly, as he tried to eat as fast as he could without attracting suspicion, his shiki had gone off warning him that people where approaching their room.

Mai took the hint, and sped up as well, after seeing him tense up, she randomly blurted, "Dear, I am not feeling well can we go back to the room?" she even added a puppy dog look to emphasize her 'pain.' "I think the baby isn't happy..."

He gave a semi shocked expression, baby? "Whatever will make you feel better hon," he automatically stated, and stood to help her up.

"Baby?" everyone asked "Congratulations again! You didn't say that you were pregnant?"

"Well we are trying to keep it a secret, that is why we are headed to see family, so we can tell them in person!" she excitedly put her arm around his waist, and he followed suite.

"And how do you feel about becoming a father?" asked the wheezy man, he was obviously suspicious of this whole charade.

"I am excited I assure you," the stoic man stated cautiously, 'they were stalling' "More like nervous..." he found himself imagining that this was real, and how he supposed he would feel.

"Well why don't you give her a kiss eh?" someone else practically shouted, "Yah kiss her!" came more and more shouts.

"My husband isn't the type for showing affection, in front of people..." mai found herself saying, as the shouts grew more enthusiastic.

Lin gathered from the looks of the complete strangers, that there was no way of getting out of this one. Praying silently that wouldn't destroy what little friendship they had, or make her fall for him. Grabbing her face, he pressed his lips against hers with force.

She could feel the pent up tension and frustration, as he pulled her closer, subconsciously she respond to it, and gave into the pretend. The whistles were drowned out by their own heart beats, and the intense moment of all of his emotion.

After a few minutes he pulled away, leaving a dumbstruck woman in his wake, "Now if you would excuse us.." he placed a hand on her waist, and steered her out of the room.

They past a group in the hall, that did not look very happy. His shiki informed him that they didn't have time to replace the camera, and the room was, safe, for now.

Once they were back inside the only haven they had, he finally let out the breathe he had been holding. He was still energized from the kiss, and his hormones were racing. He had not allowed himself to be that affectionate with anyone in a long time.

Mai was still standing there trying to comprehend what just happened, she absentmindly touched her lips. 'Lin kissed me?' Two hours ago she would have laughed at the thought, but it happened, like really happened. 'This had to be a dream, right? Or some sick kind of prank?' she thought devastedly.

She dejectedly walked to the bed and sat down. Lin wondered what had gotten into the girl, he was not a bad kisser, that much he knew.

"Mai-chan, I am sorry for my earlier actions, I did not mean to upset you in any way.." he found himself saying, he had been doing that a lot lately, well ever sense they started this ridiculous trip.

"Oh no, no it is not that?" she questioned, this whole day had been extremely confusing, and she just needed sometime to think. "I guess it is...I was just hoping that it would be different..."

His eyebrows raised, 'different?' walking over he sat next to her on the bed, "Please explain your thoughts right now.." he started to feel bad, and had a gut instinct he didn't want to know.

"Well I always imagined that my first time would be romantic...?" she mumbled out.

'First time?' he thought, then horror struck him, 'I stole her first kiss!' That thought had never even crossed his mind. He had just assumed that an attractive woman like her had a slew of boyfriends. She never talked about school, or anything like that, so he just assumed.

Oh he could hit himself, as he remembered his earlier spiel about assuming things, and here he had done it. "I kinda hoped that I would be dating the guy too..." she continued to ramble out her shattered dreams.

"Gomen nesai!" he blurted out, this was not his day at all, now he felt like he robbed her of something, an experience she could never get back. It was all his fault too, if he would have kept driving and hadn't stopped, this would have never happened.

"Koujo..." she whispered, as she took in his slumped shoulders. She had never seen him like that, he looked guilty, and upset, probably at himself. "kun.."

Well this wouldn't do, it was her fault for talking about something so trivial as dreams that got him upset, and it was her job to fix it. Gathering up courage, she spoke, "Koujo! Look at me!"

His head shot up in shock, was someone coming? Was there danger? He was shocked to find trembling lips pressed against his own, once again. It was his turn to be wide eyed, as she tried to deepen the kiss.

Pulling away from her, he shot her a worried look, "Are you feeling alright, honey?" wait what honey? Where had that come from? "I mean mai-chan?"

"Yes"..she answered again more dejectedly than before.

Now why was she upset this time? Honestly she was going to be the death of him, "Gomen Nesai for anything I just did wrong?" he asked, yep this was definitely the reason he stayed away from relationships.

"No no, it is my fault, I was crazy in thinking that you would want to kiss me again, especially since you already had to do it once previous." she was looking away, trying to hide her upset face. 'Stop being a drama queen mai!' she kept repeating to herself.

So that is what it was, she thought she was a bad kisser, rolling his eyes, he tried his very best to think of someway of convincing her that she wasn't. 'Why did I get stuck with the teenager...?" he thought incredulously to himself.

She wasn't ugly, no far from it, she was stunning, any one who wasn't blind could see that. Cringing yet again as he tried to block out the age difference, he put his hand over hers. "Mai-chan.." he whispered into her ear.

It sent shivers down her spine, his voice was husky, and sensual. "Hai..." she could barely answer, there was anticipation in the air, that hung like a blanket.

"Mai would you please look at me.." he was going to regret this, oh he knew it, this was going to open a door that shouldn't be crossed for whatever reason.

Slowly she turned her head towards him, only to gasp slightly as to seeing the closeness of his face. She could see his eyes, they were a smoldering grey, that resembled a fire that had just gone out. There was this rawness to them, that she couldn't place, hidden beneath the depths she spotted emotion running course and deep.

He also stared into her bright orbs, for what it seemed like the very first time. They held a magical glow, or a sparkle, covering her amber warm irises. It was like looking at a sunny day, in the midst of spring, there was a freshness, a renewing energy to them.

"Beautiful.." she whispered out loud.

"I think I am supposed to say that.." he himself whispered, why he did not know. It seemed that if one spoke loudly it would ruin the moment, shatter it forever like a mirror.

"Probably.." a smile formed on her lips, her hand wandered up and was now touching his exceptionally soft hair.

She was in his embrace, as his hands had claimed her, moving methodicately up and down her back. One settled on the base of her neck, and he pulled himself down onto her, taking those luscious lips for himself. This kiss was different from the others, it was an exploring, testing one.

Once he felt he had the go ahead, he continued with deepening of the contact, as he pushed her down onto the soft caresses of the comforter. She moaned beneath him, as it got more fiery and passionate. They broke boundaries, as all their emotion from life's frustrations took them far into the night,

When early morning hit, they laid together in a lovers embrace, "Koujo, remember you asked what happened to my coat and umbrella, like ages ago?"

He grunted a small yes, as sleep was threatening to finally take over, as he enjoyed the smell of her hair. "Well you see, some people at school, decided it would be funny if they...destroyed them..." 

Forcing himself to wake up, he replied, "You are bullied?" he felt some anger rise up at the thought of it.

"I suppose one could call it that..." she herself mumbled burying her face into his barren chest.

"Why did you not mention it earlier?" he wondered out loud.

"Mom always said not to take my personal problems to work..." a yawn escaped, which in turn caused him to yawn.

"Your mother was very wise then..." the cell phone buzzed loudly on the dresser, next to the bed causing him to glare.

"Ignore it.." she whined, but he reached out and picked it up much to her chagrin.

"Lin, status report." came the voice of the boss, who sounded like he could kill something. He was met with silence, the Chinese man actually did not know what to say.

"Status report!" he was agitated, apparently he needed a fix of his tea addiction.

"We are fine..." he managed to slur out.

"I want you on the road in the hour understood." and he hung up.

Groaning lin then shook the young girl, "Mai-chan we should leave..."

"Alright, alright..." she complied.

Once back on the road, mai finally spoke. "What do you think the deal was with that hotel?" she stifled a yawn.

"I frankly have no idea..?" he tried to hold one back as well, "Mai-chan about what happened there.."

"I know I know don't tell anyone, right?" she proceeded to slap herself, attempting to shock her awake.

"Actually, I was wondering..." he paused, what was he thinking, he didn't know anymore. "I know this is backwards, but I was wondering, when we get back to civilization, would you be willing to pursue this a little more?"

A smile floated across her face, "I would love that!"

They Finally reached the location, around noonish the next day, they of course stopped for breakfast, and refreshments to stay awake. Before she got out, she handed lin back the ring, "I don't think it will go over well, if we should up married do you?"

"No, your right about that," he begrudgingly took his off, and put them back in the proper spot.

"JOU-CHAN!" a shout came from the front door, followed by a bone squishing hug. "I was so worried about you! Being left alone all day with Lin! Did you miss me? You didn't loose your voice did you?"

"Can..t...breathe...!" she sputtered out.

"Oh sorry!" the monk finally let her go, "come on you need to go make some tea like now, naru is really annoying!"

She groaned at that comment, "Really? HE seriously can't go one day with out it?" hanging her head she resigned herself to her fate, and walked towards the building with the stoic man close behind her.

Walking into base, she was bombarded with questions almost immediately, whilst lin quietly slipped past everyone and took his position at the computer.

"MAI, TEA...NOW!" came the disgruntled voice of a very exhausted looking boss.

"Hai..Hai!" she whined, "I assume everyone else wants some too.." after seeing the nodding of heads, she walked out. Fifteen minutes later she returned with the coveted drink, "Here yah go guys, dig in.." she said as she handed naru a steaming cup.

Walking over to the quiet man, she took a seat, next to him. "I made you some coffee with extra caffeine, Koujo-kun.." she finished with a smile.

He looked relieved to see her, "Thanks, honey.." he said absentmindedly

"HONEY!" everyone screamed...

Lin sighed, onto day two...


End file.
